SpainDigital Nomad Visa.
For non-EU remote workers earning income from outside Spain.
- Your income has to come from companies based outside Spain.
- You qualify through a university degree or three years of experience.
- Applying from inside Spain gets you a three-year permit, not just one.
What is Spain's Digital Nomad Visa?
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa is a residence permit for non-EU nationals who work remotely for companies based outside Spain. Created by the 2022 Startups Law, it covers both employees and freelancers, lets the holder live in Spain while keeping foreign income, and can lead to long-term residency.
Who qualifies for Spain's Digital Nomad Visa?
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa is for remote workers whose income comes from outside Spain - an employee of a foreign company, or a freelancer whose Spanish clients are at most 20% of the work. Applicants need a university degree or three years of experience, steady income, private health insurance, and a clean criminal record.
How much income do you need for Spain's Digital Nomad Visa?
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa requires income of about 200% of Spain's minimum wage - roughly €2,650 to €2,850 a month in recent years. The figure is reset with the minimum wage each year. A spouse adds about 75% more and each further dependent about 25%, shown through contracts, payslips, or invoices.
Does Spain's Digital Nomad Visa lead to permanent residency?
Yes. Time on Spain's Digital Nomad Visa counts toward residency: after five years of legal residence the holder can apply for permanent residency, and after ten years for citizenship. Nationals of Ibero-American countries can apply for citizenship after just two years. The permit renews along the way.
Earn abroad,live in Spain.
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa is for people whose work travels with them. If your income comes from outside Spain - a foreign employer, or clients abroad - it lets you base your life in Spain without giving up the job you already have.
The name says 'nomad,' but it's really a path to staying.
The big picture
Spain created this visa at the end of 2022, as part of a Startups Law meant to draw remote talent and foreign income into the country. Plenty of people were already living in Spain on tourist stamps while working online; the law gave that reality a legal home and a clear set of rules.
The idea is simple: your work and your pay come from outside Spain, and you bring them with you. You can be an employee of a foreign company or a freelancer with mostly foreign clients. What matters is that the income is steady, large enough, and earned abroad - not where you sit while you do the work.
The reality
The thing that decides most cases is proof. Spain wants to see that your income is real, steady, and foreign - so the work goes into contracts, payslips, invoices, and bank statements that all line up. The clearer that paper trail, the smoother the application.
The other early decision is where you apply. From your home country, a Spanish consulate issues a one-year visa. From inside Spain - usually while there as a tourist - a national office issues a three-year permit in one go. Same visa, but the in-country route gives you far more runway before the first renewal, and decisions there tend to come quickly.
The payoff is a real life in Spain on income you already earn, with a tax break in the early years and a clock that ticks toward permanent residency. It suits settled remote workers and freelancers more than true wanderers - Spain expects you to actually live here, file taxes here, and treat it as home.
Two people who
fit the visa.
The Digital Nomad Visa fits anyone whose income is steady, large enough, and earned outside Spain. What every profile shares is foreign income and the paperwork to prove it.
The Remote Employee
Someone on the payroll of a company outside Spain - a developer, designer, or manager who works fully remotely. The company should have existed for at least a year and be happy for them to work from Spain.
The Freelancer
An independent contractor or consultant with clients abroad. Spanish clients are allowed, but only up to 20% of the work - the rest of the income has to come from outside Spain.
These are common profiles, not the only ones. A spouse or partner, children, and dependent parents can be included on the same application, with the income requirement rising for each.
What the Digital Nomad Visa
Actually Asks For.
The Digital Nomad Visa rests on four things: where your income comes from, how much of it there is, your professional background, and a short list of practical documents. Meet all four and the rest is paperwork and the right route.
01
Income From Outside Spain
The core of the visa is that you work remotely for companies based outside Spain. If you're an employee, you stay on a foreign company's payroll and it allows you to work from Spain - the company should have been operating for at least a year, and your relationship with it for at least a few months. If you're a freelancer, you can have Spanish clients, but they can make up no more than 20% of your work; the rest of your income has to come from abroad.
Common issues- Income that comes mainly from a Spanish employer or Spanish clients
- A freelance client mix where the Spanish share creeps over the 20% line
- A foreign company younger than one year, or a brand-new working relationship
- No clear letter from the employer permitting remote work from Spain
Good to know- Both salaried employees and self-employed freelancers can apply - the rules differ slightly for each
- An employee usually needs a contract plus a letter from the company allowing remote work from Spain
- A freelancer usually needs contracts or a letter from each main client abroad
- Working for a Spanish company on a local contract is what this visa does not allow
02
Enough Steady Income
You have to show income of roughly 200% of Spain's minimum wage - in recent years about €2,650 to €2,850 a month, though the exact figure shifts with the minimum wage each year. Bringing family raises the bar: a spouse or partner adds about 75% more, and each additional dependent about 25%. The income has to read as steady, not a one-off - shown through payslips, invoices, contracts, and bank statements.
Common issues- Income that only just clears the line, with no cushion
- Irregular freelance earnings that don't read as steady month to month
- Bank statements that don't match the contracts or invoices
Good to know- Savings can sometimes support a borderline case, but steady income is what the rule is built around
- The family add-ons are percentages, so the euro amounts move with the base figure too
03
A Degree or a Track Record
You qualify on background in one of two ways: a university or college degree, or at least three years of professional experience in the kind of work you do remotely. Either one is enough - you don't need both. The point is to show you're an established professional, not just starting out.
Common issues- A degree certificate that isn't legalised or apostilled for use in Spain
- Experience that's hard to document with letters or contracts
- A foreign qualification with no official Spanish translation
- Assuming you need both a degree and experience - either one will do
Good to know- A degree often has to be apostilled (or legalised) and officially translated into Spanish
- Three years of experience is the alternative when there's no relevant degree
- The experience should relate to the remote work you'll be doing from Spain
04
Insurance and a Clean Record
Two practical requirements round out the case. You need private health insurance with full coverage in Spain, from a company licensed to operate there - travel insurance doesn't count. And you need a clean criminal record: a certificate from each country you've lived in over the last few years, usually apostilled and translated, plus a signed declaration that you have no record.
Common issues- Travel or limited insurance instead of full private health coverage
- A policy with co-payments or gaps that don't meet the full-coverage test
- Missing a criminal-record certificate from a country you lived in recently
- Certificates that aren't apostilled or translated in time
Good to know- The health policy must give full coverage in Spain with no co-payments, from an insurer licensed there
- Criminal-record certificates are usually needed from every country you lived in over the last two to five years
- Most documents issued abroad need an apostille and an official Spanish translation
imigOS
Not sure which requirements you meet? Get a structured assessment before your first attorney call.
What you get,
what to weigh.
The Digital Nomad Visa is one of the easier ways for a remote worker to settle in Europe - it keeps your existing income, brings the family, and starts a residency clock. The trade-offs are the income bar, the paperwork, and the tax questions that come with actually living in Spain.
- You keep your existing job or clients - no need to find work in Spain
- Apply from inside Spain and get a three-year permit in one go
- A spouse or partner, children, and dependent parents can come too
- An optional flat 24% tax rate on Spanish income in the early years
- Counts toward permanent residency, and eventually citizenship
- Lets you live in Spain and travel freely across the Schengen area
- You have to prove steady income well above Spain's minimum wage
- Income from Spanish clients is capped at 20% for freelancers
- The paperwork is heavy - apostilles, translations, and insurance
- Living in Spain usually makes you a Spanish tax resident
- The income bar rises for each family member you bring
- The rules and figures are still young and change from year to year
Upwing the strengths that ring true, downwing the limitations that hit hardest.
Why good applications
still get held up.
Refusals and delays here are rarely about whether you qualify - they're about proof. The income, the foreign-source rule, and the legalised documents are where applications stall.
“Spain isn't really asking whether you work remotely - it's asking you to prove the income is real, steady, and earned outside the country.”
The most common snag. Income that only just meets the line, reads as irregular, or isn't backed by matching contracts, payslips, and bank statements invites questions - especially for freelancers with uneven months.
Show income comfortably above the minimum, and make sure contracts, invoices, and bank statements all tell the same story.
Spain is strict about formalities. A degree without an apostille, a certificate without an official translation, or insurance that isn't full coverage from a Spanish-licensed insurer can all stop a file that's otherwise strong.
Get apostilles and certified translations done early, and choose a health policy written specifically to meet Spain's full-coverage rule.
An application leans on records from several countries - income proof, qualifications, insurance, police certificates - each with its own timeline. Cases drift when a translation isn't ready or a certificate expires before filing. None of it is about whether you qualify.
Gathering documents early and coordinating cleanly between you and your lawyer is the part most in your control.
imigOS
A strong Digital Nomad Visa case can still slip on the basics - a document that never made it in, a letter that needed one more revision, a deadline that quietly passed. On imigOS, every document is prepared, tracked, and revised in one place, with deadlines flagged before they pass. The file an officer finally opens is complete and consistent - no gaps, no stale versions.
Residence now,
citizenship later.
The Digital Nomad Visa is a residence permit, and it counts. Each year you live in Spain on it moves you toward permanent residency, and in time the option of a Spanish passport.
Spain counts your legal residence year by year. After five years of living here you can apply for permanent residency; after ten years you can apply for citizenship. Nationals of Ibero-American countries, the Philippines, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, and people of Sephardic origin can apply for citizenship after just two years.
Start as a resident.
Your first permit runs one year (from a consulate) or three years (from inside Spain). You live in Spain, file taxes here, and keep your foreign income flowing - the residency clock is now running.
Renew and keep building.
You renew the permit, typically in two-year steps, as long as you still work remotely and meet the income bar. Each year of legal residence counts toward the longer-term goals.
Permanent residency at five years.
After five continuous years you can apply for long-term residency, which drops the income and remote-work conditions and lets you stay and work in Spain freely.
Citizenship, in time.
After ten years of legal residence you can apply for Spanish citizenship - just two years for nationals of Ibero-American countries and a few others. It means a Spanish passport, the vote, and EU citizenship.
Questions,
answered.
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa is a residence permit for non-EU nationals who work remotely for companies based outside Spain. Created by the 2022 Startups Law, it covers both employees and freelancers, and lets the holder live in Spain while keeping foreign income. It can lead to permanent residency and, in time, citizenship.
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa requires income of about 200% of the minimum wage - roughly €2,650 to €2,850 a month in recent years, reset with the minimum wage each year. A spouse adds about 75% more and each further dependent about 25%. The income must look steady, not a one-off.
Yes. Spain's Digital Nomad Visa is open to freelancers and self-employed people, not just employees. The condition is that Spanish clients make up no more than 20% of the work - the rest of the income must come from clients based outside Spain. Contracts or letters from each main client are usually required.
Both routes work. Applying at a Spanish consulate abroad gives a one-year visa to enter Spain. Applying from inside Spain, usually while there as a tourist, gives a three-year residence permit in one step. The in-country route offers more time before renewal and a faster decision, so many people prefer it.
Gathering the documents - income proof, insurance, apostilled certificates, and translations - usually takes a few weeks. Once filed, Spain commits to deciding within about twenty working days. If the in-country authority doesn't respond in time, the application is generally treated as approved.
Living in Spain usually makes you a Spanish tax resident. Digital Nomad Visa holders can opt into a special regime, often called the Beckham regime, that taxes Spanish-source income at a flat 24% up to €600,000 for the first years, instead of progressive rates. Whether it helps depends on your situation, so it's worth advice.
Yes. A spouse or partner, children, and dependent parents can be included, often on the same application. Each family member raises the income you must show - about 75% more for the first and 25% for each additional person. They get residence alongside you, and children can attend school in Spain.
No. Spain's Golden Visa, which gave residence in exchange for a property or financial investment, was abolished in April 2025. The Digital Nomad Visa is unrelated: it is based on remote work and foreign income, not investment, and remains open. It is now a main route for non-EU remote workers to live in Spain.
Yes. Time on the Digital Nomad Visa counts toward residency: permanent residency after five years, and citizenship after ten - just two years for nationals of Ibero-American countries and a few others. The full path is mapped out in the Residency section above.
Ley 28/2022 (Startups Law), Title V · Ley 14/2013, arts. 74 bis-74 quinquies · Spain Ministry of Foreign Affairs (exteriores.gob.es) · Large Companies Unit (UGE-CE)
This page contains general information for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Imigos Inc. Immigration laws, policies, and fees change frequently, and the information here may not reflect the most current legal developments. You should not act or refrain from acting based on this information without seeking professional counsel from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. Imigos Inc. expressly disclaims all liability for actions taken or not taken based on any of its contents.
Ready to start your Digital Nomad Visa application ?
Use our knowledge to take your next step.